Time to Color

A Cousin!

Uncle Reece and Auntie Angie had a little boy today. I don't think he has a name yet but we are super excited to meet him REALLY soon!

He looks so much like Reece did when he was a baby!

Rory Evan

6 pounds 11 oz
 19.5"

They Passed!

We had our last swimming lesson of the session this week and all three kids passed their current level! It is so fun watching them achieve mastery in swimming.

Andrew is now going to be in Beginner 4.

Zane is now going to be in Beginner 2!

And Lucy will now be in Preschool 3.

8 is the Age

It is a fun and curious transition when you start taking your kids to the adult events that we go to in life. It seems that in our family 8 is the perfect age to start making this transition.

For the past several years Eric has attended a men's event at my mom's church. It is a "Wild Meat Dinner" and they serve all kinds of food that people hunt. Usually there is elk, deer, turkey, bear, salmon and occasionally moose and duck as the proteins. Eric, of course, LOVES this event since it is all about eating, and both boys have been longing to go for several years.

Well this year, since Andrew turned 8, he got his chance to go. And he LOVED all the different types of meat. He is such a little hunter at heart.

I asked the kids the other day what a great adventure would be to them and Andrew IMMEDIATELY stated "Going hunting, shooting a deer and skinning it. Then eating it."

Apparently he is Eric's child.

What an amazing young man he is becoming. Makes this momma's heart very, very proud.

Zane's Dream

I have a dream...

that everybody has

a tv.

I do love that boy.

It Never Gets Old

Two big camera LOVING girls.

Every time I take out my camera they ham it up. 

Lucy: Will you take a picture of me mommy? Gwen: Me too! Me too! Then both: I want to see! I want to see!

Lucy: Let's hug each other because we are best friends, ok Gwen?

A Valentine's Pig

Andrew finished his pig Valentine holder. He had definite ideas about what it should look like. I even bought a hot glue gun to facilitate the process. Best purchase I have made in a REALLY long time. I should have bought one years ago!

Now daddy just needs to help him put a slot on the top so people can add their valentine's and it will be finished.

Andrew keeps talking about adding stickers and stuff to it but I think it looks adorable the way it is. Red kissy lips and a curly tail and all.

2 Big Steps

In the middle of a horrid illness Mr. Reid Isaiah decided to take his first two steps. No encouragement or bribery. He just stepped off into an open room. 10 and a half months. Earliest kid yet.

Miserable Little Boy

It is never fun when the kids are sick.But Reid is taking sick and miserable to an entirely new level. He has had a fever for just over two days but other than that there are no symptoms. I took him to the doctor today, no ear infection and his nose and sinuses looked good. I knew all that. I just was desperately hoping that something could be done to help my poor little man.

Because he is MISERABLE when he is sick. He is whiny, clingy, desperate for me to hold him but then wanting down 2 seconds later when I pick him up. I cannot walk out of his sight without a total and complete meltdown.

He wants to nurse, constantly. But yet not really eat anything. He is refusing solid food but constantly, constantly is at me to nurse. And then when he does nurse, not a lot of actual eating is done. It is a vicious cycle. Apparently I need to just walk around as an open milk bar to suit him and his needs. I love him dearly. I enjoy him more when he is well.

So Different

Both boys were given the task of making a Valentine's Day box to hold their class valentines. I am always so intrigued to see what they come up with as a project.

I don't have a lot of craft stuff laying around the house. So we headed off to the dollar store to get some inexpensive decoration ideas. While we were there I saw these pre-made mailboxes. They even had a slot for the valentines to fit through.

I offered to get one for both boys. Zane instantly accepted the offer (even though he had previously had some ideas about how he was going to make his box) and we got some sticker sheets so he could decorate.

Andrew turned down the offer for the box. He is determined to make a holder from scratch. In his defense, he LOVES to craft. I would have never thought my type A little man would love to be so creative but he is.

Andrew's plan is to make a Valentine's Day Piggie Bank to hold all his valentines. He has come up with the entire idea and other than the wrapping paper (which we bought) we had all the necessary items laying around the house.

I am very excited to see how this craft turns out. It just amazes me what he comes up with sometimes. And it also amazes me the length of time that he will spend on these projects. Andrew will take HOURS to complete a craft. Zane usually works and then is done minutes later. But if it comes to imagination driven things, like a story to tell or a pretend/play game, Andrew is usually in the weeds and Zane flourishes.

Two boys. So different. So wonderful in opposite ways.

A Project for Daddy

With the demise of the tree came the unfortunate chore of chopping up the fallen chunk. Since it was in our yard we got to be lazy about it.

Eric will take care of the big part of the tree but he asked that the boys lop off all the branches they could and stack them. He is going to use a chainsaw and cut up the rest of it this weekend.

The boys are such good hard workers. They have been at it for almost an hour now and amazingly the tree still has a million branches left. I am really, really proud of all their work.

Not Ready!!!

Zane is very outgoing and friendly.  He has a lot of friends in kindergarten and I can only imagine him being quite the life of the party. He certainly entertains us at home. Today I was asking him about his Valentine's day party and we were talking about buying valentines and if there was anyone he wanted to give a special one to. He got all shy and embarrassed and said yes. But he was not going to tell me who. It was a secret.

Then we started talking about this girl. She is a girl friend. Not his girlfriend. Although he said maybe she is his girlfriend but that he isn't old enough yet. I agreed with him that he wasn't old enough. THEN he informed me he was going to get married when he was 20. Or maybe 18. So that meant he needed to have a girlfriend when he was 17. Or 15. Because he can drive a car when he is 15 (insert argument about not legally driving until 16 in this state). I am so not ready for all this.

Tubby Time

Reid LOVES taking a bath with the sisters.

A lot of princess swimming lessons occur when they all take a bath together.

Although I have to definitely watch him like a hawk. He tries to drown himself at least once a bath.